Carbon Neutral Car Park for Mander Centre, Wolverhampton

The recent remodelling of The Mander Centre in Wolverhampton included resurfacing the entire 11,000m2 roof-top car park to add extra parking spaces.

The Mander Centre wanted the project to be completely carbon neutral, so contractor Rio Group specified the IKO Permapark system, the only product for waterproofing and surfacing that can be totally carbon offset. Rio Group also specified IKO Permascreed as a stable base for the waterproofing, avoiding the need for a separate vapour control layer. IKO Permascreed is designed to provide drainage falls and can be trafficked or covered as soon as it has cooled to ambient temperature.

Around 1,350 tonnes of old mastic asphalt was removed from the 500+ space car park and replaced with IKO Permapark. Radflex expansion joints were installed to accommodate movement in the car park deck.

With safety in mind, the work was mostly carried out at night, as the car park was still open to shoppers during the day. IKO’s purpose-built asphalt luggers ensured all hot materials were transported safely in sealed units to the point of laying, with flashing beacons to constantly warn people of potential hazards.

Ian Deacon, Managing Director of Rio Asphalt, says: “The IKO Permapark system is ideal for use in this situation as we could apply the waterproofing membrane directly onto IKO Permascreed after just an hour’s wait. This ensured the shopping complex was kept waterproofed from the outset, which is not always possible with alternative materials that require a longer drying period.”

Jeff Jones, Business Development Manager of Radflex Contract Services, agrees: “We often work with IKO’s Permapark System. It complements Radflex expansion joints – the mastic asphalt allows for a small amount of flexibility in the car park deck and the expansion joints deal with the movement of the building – vital in roof top car parks.”